Dignity Above All

Guatemala: peasants of Polochic make government cancel fraudulent granting of lands

The Guatemalan peasant families violently evicted in Valle del Polochic in March, 2011, and the Committee of Peasant Unity (CLOC-Via Campesina) sent a letter to President Otto Perez Molina demanding the cancellation of the event planned for September 14 where he would grant property titles to 140 out of the 800 families who suffered the violent evictions.

The lands would be granted to the peasants in a precarious way, without the appropriate land titles, and this is why the organizations demanded guarantees to ensure the rights of the communities.

The letter, sent on September 9 to Perez Molina, demands the lands to be recorded in the General Real-Estate Registry on behalf of the peasant families, ensuring this way the legality of the lands to be delivered.

They also demanded the government to provide basic services to these families such as housing, food, health, education, among others, until the peasants are able to sustain their livelihoods.

In response to this, the government had to call a press conference on Tuesday 10, where they committed to deliver the property titles on October 20 and to provide housing to 140 families, who will be relocated in Sactela and San Juan fields, in Chisec municipality.

The Committee of Peasant Unity announced they will remain alert. Daniel Pascual, coordinator of the Committee said that the main concern of the organization is the lack of governmental plans to relocate the communities in a dignified way, which can once again risk their safety after the violent and massive eviction they suffered in 2011, when their houses were burnt down.